Brubaker (1980)

The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

W.D. Richter (screenplay), W.D. Richter (story),

Stars:

Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Alexander

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Henry Brubaker
Yaphet Kotto	...	Richard 'Dickie' Coombes
Jane Alexander	...	Lillian Gray
Murray Hamilton	...	John Deach
David Keith	...	Larry Lee Bullen
Morgan Freeman	...	Walter
Matt Clark	...	Roy Purcell
Tim McIntire	...	Huey Rauch
Richard Ward	...	Abraham Cook
Jon Van Ness	...	Zaranska
M. Emmet Walsh	...	C.P. Woodward
Albert Salmi	...	Rory Poke
Linda Haynes	...	Carol
Everett McGill	...	Eddie Caldwell
Val Avery	...	Wendel

Storyline

When the new Warden comes in disguised as an inmate, he sees first hand all the corruption and scams the guards and prison officials and running. When he reveals himself, and starts to implement reforms to stop the corruption, the local business community, who had been benefiting from the scams, fights back, and the corrupt southern prison system, starts making political trouble for the new warden.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | corruption | prison farm | abuse | torture | 

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Taglines:

One man against a cruel system.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Grades do Inferno

Filming Locations:

Columbus, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$37,100,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The nickname of Richard Coombes (Yaphet Kotto) was "Dickie".

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Goofs

As Cpt. Renfro leaves, he tells Brubaker, "Smartest thing you ever did was come in here incognizant; dumbest was steppin' forward." The term is "incogNITO", which means unknown or unrecognizable. "Incognizant" means unknowledgeable or ignorant.

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Quotes

Mr. Clarence: Now, I am corrupt - that's right - just like the rest of you. But I am honest about it. Now, you VOTE for Mr. Clarence, you know exactly what you gettin'.

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Connections

Referenced in Sugar Boxx (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Respect"
(uncredited)
Written by Otis Redding
Performed by Morgan Freeman when he attacks another inmate

User Reviews

The best prison picture ever

Though Shawshank Redemption has gotten the critical raves and the box office receipts that could make it the best prison story ever filmed, my personal choice for the best film ever done about the penal system is Brubaker.

Based on the true life experiences of Thomas Murton, the co-author of the book the film is based on, Brubaker captures the realities of prison life, the complexities of trying to "reform" the system without sacrificing one iota of entertainment.

Robert Redford leads a great ensemble cast in this film. The people here are real, dealing with complex issues for which there are no simple answers. The corruption of the penal system runs deep and helped in part by the prisoners themselves who don't want to see too much change at once or have a vested interest in seeing things run just as they are. Yaphetto Kotto and Tim McIntire are two such prison trustees, both of them showing very different reasons why they don't like some or all of what Redford is doing as warden.

Among the supporting cast, I'd like to single out David Keith who was the best as the prisoner whose life Brubaker saves and ultimately becomes his biggest booster in the joint. A really outstanding job by David Keith as this simple country kid who just got caught up in "the system."

Rare you can say a film is informative as well as entertaining, but Brubaker definitely fits in both categories.